Dow Futures Up 160 Pts; Jobless Claims in Focus

U.S. stocks are seen posting modest gains later Thursday, with investors focusing their attention on reports on initial jobless claims and private sector hiring ahead of Friday’s government nonfarm payrolls report for May.

At 6:50 AM ET (1050 GMT), the Dow futures contract was up 162 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.4% while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 81 points, or 0.6%.

The gains came after Wall Street's three major indexes closed lower on Wednesday amid concerns that the Federal Reserve will stick to its aggressive rate hike cycle aimed at curbing soaring inflation.

The Dow ended down 176.89 points, or 0.5%, on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was off around 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.7%.

The Labor Department is to publish its weekly report on initial jobless claims at 8:30 AM ET. ADP will release data on private sector hiring at 8:15 AM ET.

The employment data is coming ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for May with economists expecting the economy to have added 325,000 jobs last month. While still solid, it would represent the slowest jobs growth in around a year with the labor market transitioning to more moderate growth as the effects of the pandemic ebb.

Data on Wednesday showed that U.S. job openings fell in April, but remained at high levels, suggesting that wages would continue to rise, contributing to already high inflation.

Investors are closely watching economic data for clues as to what it might mean for interest rates and Friday’s employment report could set the tone for markets this month after a tumultuous month of May.

In corporate news, shares in online pet product retailer Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) surged around 17% ahead of the open after its quarterly earnings results late Wednesday came in ahead of expectations.

Shares in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) were lower after it reported slight misses in both earnings and revenue, after the bell on Wednesday.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) stock was also in focus after Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg announced in a Facebook post late Wednesday that she is leaving the company after 14 years.

The announcement initially sent Meta's shares down 4%, but the stock erased the losses in after-hours trade.

Earnings from big tech names Crowdstrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Asana (NYSE:ASAN) are due after the close, along with results from retailers Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU), Designer Brands (NYSE:DBI) and RH (NYSE:RH).

WANT TO DIRECT TALK OUR MARKET EXPERT CONTACT MONEY LIFE RESEARCH

 Dow Futures Fall 120 Pts; Earnings in Focus as Week Closes

U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally lower Friday, continuing the previous session’s selloff on fears of sharp monetary policy tightening while quarterly corporate earnings continue to emerge.

At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 120 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 Futures traded 14 points, or 0.3%, lower and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 36 points, or 0.3%.

The three main Wall Street indices closed substantially lower Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell offered up his most aggressive approach to taming inflation to date, largely cementing a 50-basis-point rate hike at the central bank’s May meeting.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed more than 300 points, or 1.1%, lower, the broad-based S&P 500 fell 1.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite suffered the most, dropping 2.1%.

Looking at the week as a whole, the Dow is on course to register a gain of 1%, which would break a three-week losing streak, the S&P 500 is largely flat, and the Nasdaq Composite is down 1.3%, which would be its third consecutive losing week.

Away from future Fed moves, investors are also focusing on the new earnings season. So far, with a few notable exceptions, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) springs to mind, big companies have been relatively positive on the outlook for the current quarter and the remainder of the year.

More results are due Friday, with the focus on the likes of wireless carrier Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), credit card company American Express (NYSE:AXP) and manufacturing conglomerate Honeywell (NASDAQ:HON).

After the close Thursday, social media platform Snap (NYSE:SNAP) warned that the high inflation could hit revenue growth even as it forecast second-quarter daily active users at between 343 million and 345 million, above Wall Street estimates of 340 million.

Clothes retailer Gap (NYSE:GPS) cut its forecast for quarterly sales, citing execution challenges at its Old Navy brand, adding the head of this brand, Nancy Green, was leaving the company.

The economic data slate centers around the release of business activity data for April, with the manufacturing PMI seen falling back slightly from the previous month’s 58.8, and the Markit composite PMI dropping from March’s 57.7.

The equivalent data saw a two-speed Eurozone, with the bloc's dominant services sector seeing a sharp increase in activity as consumers shrugged off soaring prices, while manufacturers struggled on the back of supply chain disruptions.

Oil prices weakened Friday, weighed by prospects of interest rate hikes and slowing global growth, while China, the world’s largest crude importer, continued to struggle with a COVID-19 outbreak.

The week ends with the release of U.S. oil rig numbers from Baker Hughes and CFTC speculative positioning data. 

By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.5% lower at $102.21 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 1.4% to $106.82. Both benchmarks are on course for weekly losses of over 4%.

Get best trading education and strategies with us
VISIT NOW: MONEY LIFE RESEARCH

 Dow Jones Futures Fall 80 Pts; ADP, GDP Data and Lululemon Results in Focus

U.S. stocks are seen opening lower Wednesday, handing back some of the recent gains as investors await key economic reports on jobs and economic output while monitoring developments in Ukraine.

At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 80 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 13 points, or 0.3%, lower and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 70 points, or 0.5%.

The main Wall Street indices closed higher Tuesday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ending 338 points, or 1% higher and the broad-based S&P 500 gaining 1.2%, both registering their fourth straight day of gains, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.8%.

Helping the tone Tuesday were signs of progress in the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey. However, optimism has quickly turned into skepticism, with a Pentagon spokesman saying Ukraine’s capital Kyiv remains under threat even after Russia promised to scale back military operations there. 

“Nobody should be fooling ourselves by the Kremlin’s now-recent claim that it will suddenly just reduce military attacks near Kyiv or any reports that it is going to withdraw all its forces,” John Kirby said. It’s “a repositioning, not a real withdrawal” from positions around the Ukrainian capital.

Also catching the interest of investors are a series of important data releases given the Federal Reserve is in the process of weighing up how aggressively to hike interest rates at its May meeting.

Expectations of sharp interest rate increases saw the 2-year Treasury yield briefly climb above the 10-year for the first time since 2019, a move that is often seen as a warning of an upcoming recession.

March's ADP nonfarm employment change data is set to be released at 8:15 AM ET (1215 GMT), with consensus forecasts looking for companies to have added 450,000 jobs, while GDP for the fourth quarter, at 8:30 AM ET, is set to show a 7.1% reading from the month before, well above the previous 2.3% release.

In the corporate sector, Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) traded higher premarket after the company gave a robust forecast for the ongoing quarter, suggesting demand from data centers remains strong.

Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) will also be in the spotlight after the athletic apparel maker beat quarterly earnings estimates and announced a $1 billion stock buyback program. 

Oil prices rose Wednesday, rebounding after a two-day retreat following a fresh reminder of the tight nature of the market as data showed U.S. crude stocks fell sharply last week.

Data from the industry body, the American Petroleum Institute, showed U.S. crude inventories fell by 3 million barrels in the week ended March 25. The official data from the Energy Information Administration is due later in the session.

The oil market had dropped sharply this week on progress in the Ukraine/Russia peace talks as well as demand worries over fresh Covid-19 lockdowns in China, the world’s largest crude importer. 

By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 2.5% higher at $106.84 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 2.4% to $110.29. 

Additionally, gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,919.20/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.4% higher at 1.1129.

Get the chance to talk our 10+ years of experience experts
For FREE trail Join now: MONEY LIFE RESEARCH